Startup Founder Playbook
From zero to product-market fit
Who This Is For
First-time founders, solo founders, technical founders
Pre-seed to Series A
You're building something new and need to find PMF before running out of runway
The #1 mistake founders make is building before validating. Spend 80% of your early time talking to users, not coding. Fall in love with the problem, not your solution.
1. Find the Problem
Before building anything, validate you're solving a real problem worth solving. Talk to 50+ potential users before writing code.
Problem Definition
Directly experiencing the product as a user or provider reveals fundamental flaws in problem definit...
View Skill → →Conducting User Interviews
Observational research reveals 'orthogonal' problems that are invisible in data funnels.
View Skill → →Competitive Analysis
Competitive 'War Gaming' distributes market research across the team, ensuring deep immersion into c...
View Skill → →2. Define Your Vision
Articulate where you're going and why it matters. This becomes your recruiting pitch, investor pitch, and north star.
Defining Product Vision
Product vision in media should center on the core content (journalism) enhanced by a user experience...
View Skill → →Positioning & Messaging
Using hyper-specific details in messaging helps define the problem space and differentiates the prod...
View Skill → →Writing North Star Metrics
The value of a North Star metric lies more in its ability to galvanize and align an organization tha...
View Skill → →3. Build & Validate
Ship the smallest thing that tests your riskiest assumption. Measure what matters, not what's easy.
Scoping & Cutting
Shift the focus from 'Minimum Viable Product' to 'Minimum Lovable Product' to ensure the initial rel...
View Skill → →Shipping Products
When shipping an acquired product, prioritize technical integration and feature parity (like stats/s...
View Skill → →Measuring Product-Market Fit
Product-market fit is not static; changes in the external economic environment can effectively reset...
View Skill → →4. Find Growth
Once you have something people want, figure out how to get more of those people.
Designing Growth Loops
Effective growth strategy requires a deep understanding of the specific loops that drive acquisition...
View Skill → →Pricing Strategy
Shifting to a direct-to-consumer subscription model requires building a 'destination-first' approach...
View Skill → →Founder Sales
The primary competitor in B2B sales is often customer indecision and the fear of making a high-stake...
View Skill → →5. Build the Team
You can't do it alone forever. Your first 10 hires define your culture.
Writing Job Descriptions
Use high-signal, polarizing language in job descriptions to filter for candidates who thrive in high...
View Skill → →Evaluating Candidates
Hire for team balance and complementary skills rather than searching for a single candidate who exce...
View Skill → →Building Team Culture
Successful high-stakes partnerships (like co-founders) require clear domain separation and a commitm...
View Skill → →Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Building for 6 months before talking to users
- Hiring senior executives before finding PMF
- Optimizing growth before you have retention
- Raising too much money too early
- Trying to please everyone instead of delighting someone